Jersey City 24-Hour Immediate Crypto
Infection Detection and Recovery Consultants

Ransomware : Your Feared Information Technology Nightmare
Ransomware has become a too-frequent cyber pandemic that presents an extinction-level danger for organizations unprepared for an attack. Versions of crypto-ransomware such as Reveton, Fusob, Bad Rabbit, NotPetya and MongoLock cryptoworms have been around for a long time and still cause destruction. Modern versions of crypto-ransomware such as Ryuk, Maze, Sodinokibi, Netwalker, Conti or Egregor, plus frequent unnamed malware, not only encrypt online data files but also infect all available system backups. Data synched to off-site disaster recovery sites can also be held hostage. In a vulnerable system, this can make automated restoration impossible and basically knocks the entire system back to zero.

Getting back on-line services and data following a ransomware attack becomes a sprint against time as the targeted organization struggles to contain the damage, clear the ransomware, and resume business-critical operations. Because crypto-ransomware requires time to replicate, attacks are often sprung during nights and weekends, when successful penetrations tend to take more time to uncover. This compounds the difficulty of quickly marshalling and coordinating a knowledgeable response team.

Progent makes available a variety of services for securing enterprises from ransomware penetrations. Among these are staff training to help identify and avoid phishing exploits, ProSight Active Security Monitoring for remote monitoring and management, in addition to deployment of the latest generation security appliances with artificial intelligence capabilities from SentinelOne to discover and extinguish day-zero cyber attacks quickly. Progent also offers the assistance of seasoned ransomware recovery professionals with the talent and commitment to restore a breached environment as urgently as possible.

Progent's Crypto-Ransomware Recovery Help
Soon after a crypto-ransomware attack, sending the ransom demands in cryptocurrency does not ensure that criminal gangs will respond with the needed keys to unencrypt all your files. Kaspersky Labs determined that 17% of ransomware victims never recovered their files after having sent off the ransom, resulting in more losses. The gamble is also very costly. Ryuk ransoms are commonly a few hundred thousand dollars. For larger organizations, the ransom can be in the millions of dollars. The alternative is to piece back together the mission-critical elements of your IT environment. Absent the availability of essential information backups, this requires a broad range of skills, well-coordinated project management, and the willingness to work 24x7 until the job is done.

For twenty years, Progent has provided expert Information Technology services for businesses across the United States and has earned Microsoft's Partnership certification status in the Datacenter and Cloud Productivity competencies. Progent's team of subject matter experts (SMEs) includes consultants who have earned advanced industry certifications in leading technologies including Microsoft, Cisco, VMware, and major distributions of Linux. Progent's cybersecurity experts have garnered internationally-recognized certifications including CISM, CISSP-ISSAP, CRISC, SANS GIAC, and CMMC 2.0. (See Progent's certifications). Progent also has experience in financial management and ERP application software. This breadth of expertise gives Progent the capability to knowledgably identify critical systems and consolidate the surviving pieces of your Information Technology environment after a ransomware event and rebuild them into a functioning system.

Progent's security team of experts utilizes state-of-the-art project management applications to coordinate the complex recovery process. Progent appreciates the importance of acting quickly and in concert with a customer's management and Information Technology resources to prioritize tasks and to put key services back on-line as soon as humanly possible.

Customer Case Study: A Successful Crypto-Ransomware Penetration Restoration
A client escalated to Progent after their organization was brought down by Ryuk ransomware. Ryuk is generally considered to have been launched by Northern Korean state sponsored cybercriminals, suspected of adopting approaches exposed from America's National Security Agency. Ryuk targets specific companies with little or no room for disruption and is among the most profitable iterations of crypto-ransomware. Headline organizations include Data Resolution, a California-based information warehousing and cloud computing firm, and the Chicago Tribune. Progent's customer is a small manufacturing company based in the Chicago metro area and has about 500 workers. The Ryuk event had shut down all company operations and manufacturing processes. The majority of the client's system backups had been online at the time of the attack and were eventually encrypted. The client was evaluating paying the ransom (exceeding two hundred thousand dollars) and praying for the best, but in the end brought in Progent.

Progent worked with the client to rapidly get our arms around and assign priority to the key services that had to be restored in order to restart company functions:

• Active Directory (AD)
• Electronic Mail
• Accounting/MRP

Within 48 hours, Progent was able to rebuild Active Directory services to its pre-virus state. Progent then completed reinstallations and hard drive recovery on key servers. All Microsoft Exchange Server ties and attributes were usable, which accelerated the restore of Exchange. Progent was able to locate local OST data files (Outlook Off-Line Folder Files) on various desktop computers in order to recover email messages. A not too old offline backup of the customer's manufacturing software made it possible to return these required applications back on-line. Although a large amount of work remained to recover fully from the Ryuk event, core services were restored quickly:

During the next few weeks critical milestones in the recovery project were achieved through tight cooperation between Progent engineers and the client:

• Self-hosted web applications were brought back up without losing any information.
• The MailStore Exchange Server exceeding four million archived emails was brought on-line and accessible to users.
• CRM/Product Ordering/Invoices/AP/Accounts Receivables/Inventory Control modules were completely operational.
• A new Palo Alto 850 security appliance was set up.
• Ninety percent of the user PCs were being used by staff.

Conclusion
A probable business extinction disaster was evaded through the efforts of results-oriented experts, a wide range of knowledge, and tight collaboration. Although in post mortem the ransomware penetration detailed here would have been identified and prevented with current cyber security technology and recognized best practices, staff education, and well designed incident response procedures for backup and applying software patches, the reality is that government-sponsored cyber criminals from Russia, North Korea and elsewhere are tireless and represent an ongoing threat. If you do fall victim to a ransomware incident, feel confident that Progent's team of professionals has extensive experience in ransomware virus blocking, remediation, and data restoration.

To review or download a PDF version of this customer story, click:
Progent's Ransomware Virus Recovery Case Study Datasheet. (PDF - 282 KB)

Additional Ransomware Protection Services Available from Progent
Progent can provide companies in Jersey City a portfolio of online monitoring and security assessment services to assist you to minimize the threat from crypto-ransomware. These services incorporate modern AI capability to uncover new strains of crypto-ransomware that can get past legacy signature-based security products.

• ProSight Managed Service Plans: for Small to Mid-size Businesses
  Progent's ProSight Managed IT Service Packages make it feasible for small and mid-size companies to utilize Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM) solutions to create leading-edge IT resilience. Progent takes care of the daily monitoring and maintenance for you, so your network expands easily without becoming an obstacle. For an affordable and predictable monthly subscription, Progent's full-service IT group can be your dependable technology safety net. Entry-level plans include remote monitoring and management (RMM), security, automatic monthly patching, and reporting. As your requirements grow, you can add low-cost subscriptions to best-of-breed options such as SaaS M365/Google Workspace backup, Multi-Factor Authentication, penetration testing, or WiFi management.

• ProSight LAN Watch: Server and Desktop Remote Monitoring
  ProSight LAN Watch is Progent's server and desktop remote monitoring service that uses state-of-the-art remote monitoring and management techniques to help keep your IT system running at peak levels by checking the state of vital computers that drive your information system. When ProSight LAN Watch uncovers an issue, an alarm is transmitted immediately to your specified IT personnel and your assigned Progent consultant so any looming issues can be resolved before they have a chance to impact your network. Find out more details about ProSight LAN Watch server and desktop remote monitoring services.

• ProSight LAN Watch with NinjaOne RMM: Unified RMM for Networks, Servers, and Workstations
  ProSight LAN Watch with NinjaOne RMM software delivers a centralized, cloud-based solution for managing your client-server infrastructure by providing tools for streamlining common tedious jobs. These include health monitoring, patch management, automated remediation, endpoint setup, backup and recovery, A/V defense, remote access, built-in and custom scripts, resource inventory, endpoint status reporting, and debugging help. When ProSight LAN Watch with NinjaOne RMM spots a serious issue, it sends an alarm to your designated IT management personnel and your assigned Progent technical consultant so emerging issues can be taken care of before they interfere with productivity. Learn more details about ProSight LAN Watch with NinjaOne RMM server and desktop monitoring services.

• ProSight WAN Watch: Infrastructure Management
  Progent's ProSight WAN Watch is a network infrastructure monitoring and management service that makes it simple and inexpensive for smaller organizations to diagram, track, optimize and troubleshoot their connectivity hardware like routers and switches, firewalls, and access points as well as servers, endpoints and other networked devices. Using state-of-the-art Remote Monitoring and Management technology, WAN Watch ensures that network maps are kept current, captures and manages the configuration information of virtually all devices on your network, monitors performance, and sends alerts when potential issues are discovered. By automating time-consuming management processes, WAN Watch can knock hours off common chores such as making network diagrams, expanding your network, finding appliances that need important software patches, or isolating performance issues. Find out more details about ProSight WAN Watch network infrastructure monitoring and management consulting.

• ProSight Reporting: Real-time and In-depth Reporting for Ticketing and Network Monitoring Applications
  ProSight Reporting is a growing suite of real-time reporting plug-ins designed to integrate with the top ticketing and network monitoring applications such as ConnectWise Manage, ConnectWise Automate, Customer Thermometer, Auvik, and SentinelOne. ProSight Reporting incorporates Microsoft Graph and utilizes color coding to highlight and contextualize critical issues such as inconsistent support follow-through or machines with missing patches. By exposing ticketing or network health problems clearly and in near-real time, ProSight Reporting enhances network value, reduces management overhead, and saves money. For details, see ProSight Reporting for ticketing and network monitoring applications.

• ProSight Data Protection Services: Backup and Disaster Recovery Services
  Progent has partnered with leading backup software companies to create ProSight Data Protection Services, a family of management offerings that deliver backup-as-a-service. ProSight DPS products automate and track your backup processes and enable non-disruptive backup and fast restoration of important files/folders, applications, images, plus Hyper-V and VMware virtual machines. ProSight DPS helps you recover from data loss resulting from equipment failures, natural disasters, fire, malware like ransomware, human error, ill-intentioned employees, or application bugs. Managed backup services available in the ProSight Data Protection Services product family include ProSight DPS Altaro VM Backup, ProSight 365 Total Backup (formerly Altaro 365 Backup), ProSight DPS ECHO Backup using Barracuda dedicated storage, and ProSight MSP360 Cloud and On-prem Backup. Your Progent service representative can assist you to identify which of these managed services are most appropriate for your IT environment.

• ProSight Email Guard: Inbound and Outbound Spam Filtering and Data Leakage Protection
  ProSight Email Guard is Progent's spam filtering and email encryption service that uses the technology of leading information security vendors to provide web-based control and comprehensive protection for your email traffic. The hybrid architecture of Email Guard managed service combines cloud-based filtering with an on-premises gateway appliance to provide advanced defense against spam, viruses, Denial of Service (DoS) Attacks, Directory Harvest Attacks (DHAs), and other email-based malware. The Cloud Protection Layer acts as a first line of defense and blocks the vast majority of threats from making it to your security perimeter. This decreases your vulnerability to inbound threats and conserves network bandwidth and storage. Email Guard's on-premises gateway appliance adds a deeper layer of analysis for inbound email. For outgoing email, the local security gateway provides anti-virus and anti-spam filtering, policy-based Data Loss Prevention, and email encryption. The onsite security gateway can also help Microsoft Exchange Server to track and protect internal email that stays within your corporate firewall. For more information, see ProSight Email Guard spam filtering and data leakage protection.

• ProSight Duo Multi-Factor Authentication: Access Security, Endpoint Remediation, and Protected Single Sign-on
  Progent's Duo authentication service plans incorporate Cisco's Duo technology to protect against compromised passwords through the use of two-factor authentication. Duo supports one-tap identity verification with iOS, Android, and other personal devices. Using 2FA, whenever you log into a protected online account and give your password you are requested to confirm who you are on a unit that only you possess and that is accessed using a separate network channel. A wide range of devices can be utilized for this second form of authentication such as a smartphone or wearable, a hardware/software token, a landline phone, etc. You can register several verification devices. For more information about ProSight Duo identity authentication services, visit Cisco Duo MFA two-factor authentication (2FA) services for access security.

• Outsourced/Co-managed Service Center: Support Desk Managed Services
  Progent's Support Center managed services enable your information technology team to outsource Help Desk services to Progent or divide responsibilities for support services seamlessly between your in-house network support resources and Progent's extensive pool of certified IT service technicians, engineers and subject matter experts (SMEs). Progent's Shared Service Desk provides a seamless extension of your internal IT support organization. End user access to the Help Desk, provision of support, escalation, ticket creation and updates, performance measurement, and management of the service database are consistent regardless of whether incidents are taken care of by your corporate IT support resources, by Progent's team, or both. Learn more about Progent's outsourced/co-managed Help Center services.

• Progent Active Defense Against Ransomware: AI-based Ransomware Detection and Cleanup
  Progent's Active Defense Against Ransomware is an endpoint protection (EPP) solution that utilizes cutting edge behavior machine learning technology to defend endpoint devices and servers and VMs against modern malware attacks such as ransomware and file-less exploits, which routinely escape legacy signature-based AV tools. Progent Active Security Monitoring services safeguard local and cloud resources and offers a single platform to manage the entire threat progression including filtering, detection, mitigation, remediation, and post-attack forensics. Top capabilities include one-click rollback using Windows Volume Shadow Copy Service and automatic system-wide immunization against newly discovered threats. Learn more about Progent's ransomware protection and cleanup services.

• ProSight IT Asset Management: Network Documentation Management
  Progent's ProSight IT Asset Management service is a cloud-based IT documentation management service that makes it easy to capture, update, retrieve and safeguard information related to your network infrastructure, processes, business apps, and services. You can instantly find passwords or IP addresses and be warned about impending expirations of SSLs ,domains or warranties. By updating and managing your IT documentation, you can eliminate as much as 50% of time wasted searching for critical information about your network. ProSight IT Asset Management includes a centralized repository for storing and sharing all documents required for managing your business network like standard operating procedures and How-To's. ProSight IT Asset Management also offers a high level of automation for gathering and associating IT data. Whether you're making enhancements, performing regular maintenance, or responding to a crisis, ProSight IT Asset Management delivers the knowledge you need as soon as you need it. Learn more about Progent's ProSight IT Asset Management service.

• Progent's Patch Management: Patch Management Services
  Progent's support services for software and firmware patch management offer businesses of all sizes a flexible and affordable alternative for evaluating, testing, scheduling, implementing, and documenting updates to your dynamic information system. In addition to optimizing the protection and reliability of your IT network, Progent's patch management services permit your in-house IT team to concentrate on more strategic projects and activities that derive maximum business value from your information network. Learn more about Progent's patch management services.

• ProSight Virtual Hosting: Hosted VMs at Progent's World-class Data Center
  With ProSight Virtual Hosting service, a small business can have its key servers and apps hosted in a protected fault tolerant data center on a fast virtual machine host set up and maintained by Progent's IT support professionals. With the ProSight Virtual Hosting service model, the client owns the data, the operating system software, and the applications. Since the environment is virtualized, it can be moved easily to an alternate hosting environment without a time-consuming and difficult configuration process. With ProSight Virtual Hosting, you are not tied a single hosting service. Learn more about ProSight Virtual Hosting services.

• ProSight Active Security Monitoring: Endpoint Protection and Ransomware Defense
  Progent's ProSight Active Security Monitoring (ASM) is an endpoint protection (EPP) service that utilizes SentinelOne's cutting edge behavior analysis technology to guard physical and virtual endpoints against modern malware assaults such as ransomware and file-less exploits, which easily escape traditional signature-matching anti-virus products. ProSight ASM safeguards on-premises and cloud resources and provides a unified platform to address the complete malware attack progression including blocking, infiltration detection, containment, remediation, and forensics. Top capabilities include one-click rollback using Windows Volume Shadow Copy Service and real-time network-wide immunization against new attacks. Progent is a SentinelOne Partner, dealer, and integrator. Learn more about Progent's ProSight Active Security Monitoring (ASM) next-generation endpoint protection and ransomware defense.

• ProSight Enhanced Security Protection: Physical and Virtual Endpoint Protection and Microsoft Exchange Filtering
  Progent's ProSight Enhanced Security Protection managed services deliver economical in-depth protection for physical and virtual servers, workstations, mobile devices, and Microsoft Exchange. ProSight ESP utilizes contextual security and modern behavior analysis for round-the-clock monitoring and reacting to security threats from all attack vectors. ProSight ESP delivers firewall protection, penetration alarms, endpoint management, and web filtering through leading-edge tools incorporated within a single agent accessible from a unified console. Progent's security and virtualization experts can help you to plan and implement a ProSight ESP environment that meets your company's unique requirements and that helps you demonstrate compliance with legal and industry data security standards. Progent will help you specify and configure policies that ProSight ESP will manage, and Progent will monitor your IT environment and respond to alarms that require immediate action. Progent can also assist your company to install and verify a backup and restore system such as ProSight Data Protection Services (DPS) so you can recover rapidly from a potentially disastrous security attack like ransomware. Find out more about Progent's ProSight Enhanced Security Protection unified endpoint security and Exchange email filtering.